Montana Judge Blocks Some Medical Marijuana Provisions

By
Associated Press
on January 5, 2015

A Montana judge permanently has banned enforcement of key provisions of the state’s medical marijuana law.

District Judge James Reynolds of Helena on Friday permanently blocked several provisions, including the ban on the advertising of marijuana and the prohibition against commercial sale for profit of marijuana to people authorized to obtain it for medical reasons.

The provision against for-profit sales essentially meant that medical marijuana cardholders had to grow their own pot.

Reynolds struck down provisions that restrict a medical marijuana provider from assisting more than three people licensed by the state to obtain legal pot or marijuana-infused products, again without them being able to be paid.

The judge also ruled against a part of the law that required the state to provide the Board of Medical Examiners with the names of any physician who within a 12-month period wrote certifications for medical marijuana for 25 or more patients. Such notice would have required the physician to pay for an automatic review of his practices by the Board of Medical Examiners.